The talent equation

Business case

The talent
equation

Cécile Dhermain’s cross-site experience through Hager’s international VIE programme reflects the kind of early responsibility, international exposure, and structured development the Group aims to embed more systematically in its future Early Careers Programme.

The Early Careers Programme aims to turn talent development into a strategic investment, with measurable returns and a clear case for building capability from within.

Cécile Dhermain, twenty-six, works across two sites as part of her Volontariat International en Entreprise (VIE)¹ assignment, an experience that allows her to discover the Group’s international environment from different perspectives. Inspired by her own journey, she now contributes to the design of Hager’s Early Careers programmes, with a clear ambition: to create distinctive career paths for high-potential talents, combining cross-functional exposure, strategic projects, continuous learning, and strong visibility. It is the experience that shaped her, and the one she now wants to pass on. The Early Careers Programme will be launched in October 2026 to create exactly that experience – one where talented people are given real work, real responsibility, and the space to grow into the professionals Hager will need in the decade ahead.

“This is not a training budget line,” says Céline Friedrich, Early Career Talent Acquisition & Programs Manager. “It is a strategic investment in the capabilities Hager will need to lead the energy transition. We are building up the workforce of 2030 today.”

Building talent from within also means making development visible as a shared effort, where cohorts, structured pathways, and collective learning turn individual potential into a stronger internal capability base for the years ahead.

The cost of looking elsewhere

For companies navigating accelerating technological change, demographic pressure, and intensifying competition for qualified professionals, hiring from outside has become an increasingly costly default. Wage inflation, recruitment premiums, headhunting fees, onboarding delays, and the steady erosion of institutional knowledge are structural realities that compound over time. “Every vacancy month, every recruiter fee, every new hire who takes twelve months to reach full productivity – these are not abstract numbers,” says Céline. “They add up, and they slow us down.” So, developing capability systematically from within has become a strategic prerequisite for Hager’s transformation.

Louis Oculy, Apprentice in Energy Management at Hager’s Connected Software Factory, is one of many young professionals building the capabilities the energy transition demands.

Three pillars, one pipeline

The programme will operate across three complementary streams. “Hager needs different kinds of capability – deep technical expertise, strong local leaders, and globally mobile future managers,” says Céline. “The structure reflects the reality of what the transformation requires.” The three streams are:

STEM: strengthens scientific and technical expertise for research, product development, and sustainable innovation.

Local Leadership: builds cross-functional business acumen within individual markets, reinforcing succession planning and operational continuity.

Global Accelerate: prepares high-potential young professionals for early management responsibility through international exposure, structured rotations, and mentoring.

Management Summary

The risk: demographic pressure and intensifying competition for qualified professionals make external recruitment costly and unreliable – exposing the organisation to wage inflation, recruitment premiums, and loss of institutional knowledge.

The approach: three streams – STEM, Local Leadership, and Global Accelerate – build the capabilities Hager needs for its 2030 transformation from within.

The impact: ~57% cumulative discounted return⁴ over five years, through avoided recruitment costs, lower turnover, and faster productivity ramp-up.

The value of building from within

While the programme requires upfront investment in training infrastructure, mentoring capacity, and governance, returns build steadily as each cohort matures. Based on established capital budgeting principles and an 8%² discount rate, consistent with empirical findings in human capital economics, the cumulative discounted return over five years reaches approximately 57%³. “The value is cumulative,” Céline says, “every cohort that comes through adds to the capability base – and reduces our dependence on the external market.”

Avoided recruitment costs, lower turnover, and faster time to full productivity all contribute, as does the institutional knowledge that internally developed talent accumulates over time.

Beyond the corporate return

And the value extends well beyond Hager’s own bottom line. Participants build skills faster, become more employable, and reach higher-responsibility roles earlier, with stronger earning potential and greater long-term employment stability. When young professionals develop real capability in industries driving the energy transition, the effect is felt across regional labour markets, generations, and communities, building toward sustainable economic development. “This programme changes trajectories for the people in it,” says Céline. “Structured development, real mentoring, early responsibility – that is not something you find on a conventional entry path.”

The decade ahead belongs to people who understand both the technology and the transformation it requires. Hager is investing in them now.

VIE (Volontariat International en Entreprise) is a French international graduate programme that enables young citizens of the European Economic Area (EEA) to undertake assignments abroad within companies operating internationally, typically for a period of 6 to 24 months.

Consistent with typical corporate investment benchmarks and empirical findings in human capital economics.

Derived from empirical research in human capital economics and established financial modelling approaches for human capital investment.

The cumulative discounted return expresses the total financial value generated by the program over five years, expressed as a percentage of the investment made. Future benefits are adjusted (“discounted”) to reflect their value today, allowing for a comparable view of returns across years.

Hager Annual & Sustainability Report 2025/26 – undefined Letter of the Chairman – undefined Letter from the Chief Executive Officer – undefined Introduction – undefined Our brand promise – undefined The Return to Blue – undefined Operational Excellence – undefined Introduction – undefined The switch to circular – undefined Powering performance, locally – undefined From Charging to Participating – undefined Hager at a Glance – undefined Introduction – undefined Navigating change, building momentum – undefined Tomorrow Won't Wait – undefined Sustainability Report – undefined Introduction: advancing sustainable growth and stakeholder value – undefined Performing and transforming with care – undefined General Disclosures – undefined Materiality Assessment – undefined E3: An integrated sustainability framework – undefined Environment: protecting the climate and natural resources – undefined Better buildings. Better tomorrows: electrifying the transition ahead – undefined Climate change and energy – undefined The roof that pays for itself – undefined Beyond the last mile: the routes to zero – undefined When buildings learn to think – undefined Managing substances of concern in our products – undefined Our focus on resource use and circularity – undefined Managing additional environmental topics – undefined Social: fostering wellbeing and strengthening communities – undefined Care is the Hager way: why people matter to better buildings – undefined Our people and culture – undefined The talent equation – undefined Product safety for consumers and end users – undefined Growing skills, growing business – undefined Governance: building trust through integrity and responsibility – undefined Ethics: acting with integrity – undefined From fishing nets to circuit breakers – undefined Content Index – undefined Contact / Imprint – undefined